Como estas Big Muddy Buddies?

How's it going Big Muddy Buddies?


Life has been busy and exciting over these past few weeks in our neighborhood with many wonderful developments to talk about. All of us at the farm want to send out a big thanks to everyone who made the Secret Cafe dinner such a success. In case you missed it, this past Friday friends of Big Muddy Urban Farm set up a dinner at a home in the Orchard Hill neighborhood where all proceeds went back to the collective. We were blessed to have donations from Upstream Brewing Company and the Tea Smith, as well as others, making the night as a whole that much smoother. A homemade four course meal, good company, good music, and good brew... what more could you ask for? We'll be hosting another dinner in the next few months, so keep your ears open!


Personally, I'm really excited for the Hootenanny happening this Sunday at the Waiting Room. The event in Benson is going to be a fundraiser ($5 cover) for Big Muddy Urban Farm and Sweet Thyme Urban Farms, with music from Southpaw Bluegrass Band, Matt Cox, Gerald Lee Jr., Lincoln Dickison & Kate Williams, as well as myself. I'm going on early with my friends Michaela and Auto, so come early and plan to stay.


Also, the Localmotive food truck, a new company serving a menu that emphasizes seasonal, locally-sourced products will serve at the Hootenanny. This growing season we are partnering with Localmotive by selling them a special kind of potato called Bintje's. We are always looking for new businesses to partner with, so if you or anyone you know is interested in purchasing local produce for your establishment feel free to email us -- bigmuddyfarm@gmail.com or contact me (Matt Cronin) directly 402-515-2471. 


The last thing on my mind is how I'm just itching for spring to come. I don't know about ya'll, but all of these thunderstorms are making me stir crazy to get my hands in the dirt. I've got a feeling though that mother winter isn't going to pack up and leave for another month, but we'll see. Until next time, take care and we hope to see you soon!


love,
Matt  

Five simple ways to show us your support

1. Come to the "Secret Cafe" our friends are hosting this Friday. It is to be held between 6pm and 10pm and you will not be disappointed: lots of tasty food and even live music! Suggested donation of $5+. We will also have little take home treats (as supplies last) for anyone attending. Stay tuned for the location!

2. Leave us a happy note on any of our posts-- or even an email! We would LOVE to hear from you :)

3. Mark your calendars for March 4th. Our friend Lori is hosting a Hootenanny at the Waiting Room, here in Omaha! It is $5 to attend and well worth it. There will be a variety of different musicians and tasty foods from local vendors. Bring your friends and family (its kid friendly!).

4. Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter for more updates! We will be posting lots and lots of photos throughout the season, and as we start to get our plants going.

5. Sign up for a share of our CSA! Though there is still a bit of time till our registration ends, March 18th is less than a month away. Email us for more details and the member agreement today! Remember, our email address is: bigmuddyfarm@gmail.com

Thanks for your continued support,
Farmer Ali

secret cafe, partnerships, wic, gap, markets, csa, oh my!

Wow! It's a beautiful day outside. The snow is melting, the ground is thawing...it's about time for the days of the muddy boots. We're still working through a lot of details for this growing season, collecting CSA sign-ups, getting prepped to start our work in the greenhouse, and dreaming of mornings in the sunshine pullin' up weeds.  

Here are some updates from the Big Muddy Urban Farm...

• Friends of the Big Muddy Urban Farm are hosting a "Secret Cafe" on Friday, February 24th starting at 5:00pm. Come have a delicious meal and drinks served to you. On the menu: greens, bean and beer soup, potato leek soup, homemade bread by James, rabbit, and homemade pies and cupcakes for dessert. This is a fundraiser to help us buy materials for our raised beds at the 33rd and California Plot. $5.00-$10.00 suggested donation. Also, the infamous Matt Cronin (and perhaps a few other musical guests) will serenade you while you dine. Location details coming soon... but save the date!

• We had a really great meeting with Omaha Economic Development Corporation this week about a potential partnership that would truly be awesome for the Big Muddy Urban Farm. We will reveal more soon, when we can. In the meantime, check them out, they do some cool work in the neighborhood. 

• We're on our way to becoming certified to accept WIC vouchers! 

• Ali and Brent attended the GAP training, which stands for Good Agricultural Practices. This means Big Muddy Urban Farm is officially trained in GAP practices. From the UNL Extension page "Safe, locally grown produce is a important to the producers as it is to consumers. The purpose of providing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) training is to reduce the risks of microbial contamination of fruits and vegetables. The overarching aim is to help increase safety or quality of local foods and this starts by developing a farm food safety plan that is achievable."  

• We mentioned this before, but just so everyone knows we currently have plans to sell at the Benson Farmer's Market and Gifford Park Farmer's Market this season. The GP Farmer's Market is pretty new, and we hope we can help get more vendors and customers traveling through this season. Our friends from the Minnelusa House and GP Teen Market folks also sell there. Let the countdown to Farmer's Markets begin! 

• Don't forget to request a CSA Member Agreement today. One by one our spots are getting filled. 31 days until registration for this growing season closes!

xoxo,

Caitie

We get by, with a little help from our friends

What good would life be, if not for friends? I'm not sure about you, but I am constantly made happier by my dearest friends, and their constant support for me and my crazy ideas... moving to Nebraska for instance, would have been a little less lovely had I not had the support of so many people, both family and friends alike. 


The more I think about it, I see how much this applies to our current situation with Big Muddy Urban Farm. To me, community supported agriculture (CSA) has so many implications; not only does it imply that the producers are directly tied to our customers, in our case it acknowledges the important connection between us as farmers and the continued support of our community; both in the immediate sense of our local community and in the larger sense of the greater sustainable agriculture community here in Nebraska and in the midwest. As we continue to explore the network of other growers, it seems there are more and more inspiring individuals we meet, who are willing to share their knowledge and wisdom (and resources!) with us. I feel so fortunate to be a part of a new business venture that is receiving support from many directions. 

And how exciting it is to join the ranks of others growing food in Nebraska! 

Brent, Caitie, Tyler and I will be at the Healthy Farms & Rural Advantage conference in Nebraska City this weekend, and we look forward to meeting more of our farming friends. 

Thanks for you support,

ali

p.s. speaking of support, our lovely seed garlic donations from various farming friends, have safely made it into the ground before last week's snow! They are nesting in the ground covered with a generous layer of mulch and a tarp to keep them warm in the coldest days of winter. Can't wait to see them in the spring!

Quick facts about the Big Muddy Urban Farm CSA

1.
We offer flexible payment plans. Please let us know if you'd like to work a different payment schedule out.

2.
We're only offering 20 Full Shares this season. (or the equivalent in half share)

3.
As a member you'll get a weekly newsletter with storage tips, recipes, and other quirky things written by us (maybe jokes?)

4.
We have two pick-up locations -- Benson Farmer's Market (Military and Maple) & Gifford Park Farmer's Market (33rd and California)

5.
We are interested in offering add-ons to the CSA (for an additional cost). We'd like to offer a weekly share of local/organic eggs, cheese, and/or meat. We will let you know if this becomes available!

6.
We love kids. Even more we love kids who want to eat veggies and/or learn about growing food. If you have kids and you want to come hang out with us at one of our plots for a morning or afternoon we're totally into that.

7.
Sign-up for our CSA is open now. All you have to do is shoot us an email (bigmuddyfarm@gmail.com). We'll send you a Member Agreement, you can look it over, ask us any questions, and voila! mail that form in with your deposit and we'll save your spot.

seed garlic!

check out those beauties!

Seeds and dreams!

We've gotten about half of the seeds we ordered in so far and are anxiously waiting for the rest.  We are committed to buy from pesticide free seed sources and I just wanted to showcase some of the varieties I am most excited to grow for the CSA (and have been dreaming about)!


Japanese Black Trifele

I ran into this tomato while working on Friendly Farms in Iowa City with my friend Bob Braverman. Doesn't crack as much as other large heirlooms and has the best taste. We got our seeds from Seed Savers and hope to have a bunch of these in our CSA shares from July on!









New England Sugar Pie

We are excited to be growing one of the best pie pumpkins for our CSA this year and hope to have at least a couple to put in each share in October so kids (and adults) can get their pumpkin pie fix. I learned the value of buying good pumpkin seeds last year when we went to market with pumpkins from an unknown source. This year we corrected that mistake and purchased from the Missouri based, Baker's Creek Seed Company.






Bull's Blood Beetroot

Finally we have this dark red beet that is great for pickling, boiling, eating raw, or dyeing your hair with (I know from personal experience). Some people say they don't like beets because they taste like dirt, I say great, that leaves more beet for the rest of us.









Hope you enjoyed a look at some of the varieties we are itching to get in the ground for this next year, I personally can't wait, only a few more months to go.

See you in the fields,
Tyler